Book Review: Black Klansman
Jun. 18th, 2018 11:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igrockspockTitle: Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth
Genre: Memoir
The story: As the first black detective in the Colorado Springs PD, Ron Stallworth never imagined he would join the KKK, but he did just that. When he saw a KKK recruitment ad in the local paper, he sent a response, expecting to receive some pre-printed brochures. Instead, he was invited to join. To pull off this ruse, he recruited a white coworker to play him at personal meetings, while he managed phone conversations with everyone from low level Klan members to David Duke himself.
My review: You know how your grandpa has a story he's told a million times, and the experience itself is pretty interesting, but the way he tells it is boring as fuck? Unfortunately, that's this book. Stallworth has an interesting story, but he is not a gifted writer, and the story lacks any of the emotional punch to engage the reader. Although the mechanics of undercover work are interesting, the actual results of the investigation are not. This is one case where the movie might be better than the book.
Genre: Memoir
The story: As the first black detective in the Colorado Springs PD, Ron Stallworth never imagined he would join the KKK, but he did just that. When he saw a KKK recruitment ad in the local paper, he sent a response, expecting to receive some pre-printed brochures. Instead, he was invited to join. To pull off this ruse, he recruited a white coworker to play him at personal meetings, while he managed phone conversations with everyone from low level Klan members to David Duke himself.
My review: You know how your grandpa has a story he's told a million times, and the experience itself is pretty interesting, but the way he tells it is boring as fuck? Unfortunately, that's this book. Stallworth has an interesting story, but he is not a gifted writer, and the story lacks any of the emotional punch to engage the reader. Although the mechanics of undercover work are interesting, the actual results of the investigation are not. This is one case where the movie might be better than the book.
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Date: 2018-06-18 09:54 pm (UTC)